Again, this month, I hardly had any time to take part in Wine Blogging Wednesday #39, where ‘silver’ Burgundies stand in the spotlight. Not that I have never tasted silver Burgundies, i.e., Burgundies not from the fabled Côte d’Or; on the contrary, we spent a holiday along the borders of the river Saone, in the Chalonnais, and have had in our wine cellar several bottles of Clos Salomon, from AOC Givry.
But I couldn’t find any tasting notes on the Clos Salomon, and had to find another wine to write about. At the annual Fall Tasting of our regular wine merchant, I found the solution to my problem. On the table was a Pouilly-Fuissé 2004 from Domaine de la Collonge, priced at € 15,95. Pouilly-Fuissé is a village in the Mâconnais, south of the more famous wine areas in Burgundy. Owner of Domaine de la Collonge is Gilles Noblet. I found a lot of information on this domaine on the website of the International Wine of the Month Club.
A Pouilly-Fuissé is allways white and made of 100% chardonnay; it must not be mistaken for a Pouilly-Fumé, which is a wine made from sauvignon blanc from the Loire area.
‘Our’ Pouilly-Fuissé is a soft fresh wine, with lots of fruit in the smell and the taste. It tastes ripe and full, with hints of melon, peach and hazelnuts. It will undoubtedly combine well with fish, poultry and green pasta salades.
The Domaine de la Collonge Puilly-Fuissé can also stand on its one, as an aperitif. In that, it differed enormously with the Bernardus Chardonnay 2005 from Monterey in California. More or less as a wild card, this wine was added to the table at the Fall Tasting; its maker, Ben Pon, is a Dutchman who has made his fortune in the automobile business.
The Californian wine is heavier, has lots of vanille flavours and I would recommend drinking it only with food. The French Chardonnay is much ‘lighter’, fresher and fruitier and can be drunk on its own.
For me, this Pouilly-Fuissé is a very fine example of how good a ‘silver’ burgundy can be. It gives maximum drinking pleasure for a very reasonable price!
Photo: Solutré Rock in Pouilly-Fuissé
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Brooklynguy zegt
hi Mariëlla – thanks so much for participating. i enjoyed your post and your notes. i believe that somehow yours is the first Pouilly Fuisse reviewed – i’m glad you liked it. thanks again, take care – neil